


The Magic Between Us

by Feloncharlie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:08:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23854333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feloncharlie/pseuds/Feloncharlie
Summary: This is a Steve/Billy Hogwarts AU. Honestly I just rewatched the Harry Potter movies and have been writing a lot of Harringrove so this is happening. They are first years and it'll follow the boy's throughout their time at Hogwarts.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler
Comments: 7
Kudos: 47





	1. The Beginning of Something Great

Steve had been waiting for his letter since the day he learned his mom was a wizard. He was so nervous that he wouldn’t get it, even though they could all tell from a young age that he had some magic in him. Anytime he got upset as a child things would fly off of shelves and windows would crack, and it was part of the reason his father resented him. His father had found out his mother was a wizard way into their relationship and at that point he just went with it, Steve knew he had hoped his son would be a muggle. Instead he got a toddler that threw magical tantrums and had quite the temper on him. 

Still, Steve was ecstatic when he got his letter. His mom had given him a tight lipped smile, and his dad mused that with Steve at Hogwarts he wouldn’t be around the house anymore. 

He practically counted down the days until they finally took him to get his school supplies at Diagon Alley. His father refused to go, and Steve’s mother didn’t really want to be there either, just gave him the sack of coins and told him when they would be back to pick him up. 

Diagon Alley had been busy with all the students getting their new supplies for the year, and Steve had no idea where to start. He couldn’t help but just stare at all the stores and all the wizards. It was like no place he had ever seen before. He checked his list and headed off to what he assumed would be the clothing shop,  _ Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions.  _ He was greeted right away by a sweet witch who didn’t speak much. She just pointed to the footstool and began to take his measurements. 

“First year?” She asked simply as she started to pin the robe. 

“Yes ma’am.” Steve answered nervously. He looked around the shop with all the other families all together. He just had himself. 

She finished his robe quickly and helped Steve figure out what coins he used to pay her with. Steve had never used wizard money before, and they didn’t resemble muggle money enough for him to have any idea what they meant. 

Steve headed off to the next shop that didn’t look entirely too busy,  _ Flourish and Blotts _ , where Steve realized he had a problem. He had an entire list of school supplies he was supposed to get, and only himself to transport them all to each store. He hadn’t even brought a backpack with him, so he only had his arms, and they were already carrying his uniform. The robes on their own were heavy and paired with the winter cloak and the books he was soon to buy, he didn’t know how he would get it all done. 

He dumped his robes on the floor of the store and tried to fashion them into a sort of rucksack he could use for the books. He noticed a few wizards look at him, and one girl around his age stepped forwards, her mother right behind her. 

“Do you need any help?” 

Steve smiled shyly, she was beautiful, “Uh my family is picking me up later and I just didn’t realize how much stuff I needed.” 

The mother stepped forward and extended her hand, “We’re the Wheelers. We can help you carry some of your stuff. Ted could you come here and pick up the books for the boy.” 

Steve smiled appreciatively, “Thank you guys.” 

The girl peered at the robes in his arms, “We haven’t gotten to get robes yet. We only just got here, and I really just want my wand.” 

Steve could tell his face lit up at the words, he had almost forgotten about his wand. 

The girl grabbed his hand and soon they were dashing over to  _ Ollivanders, _ her parents quick behind them. 

Steve couldn’t help but stare when they entered the shop, there were thousands of wands lined on every bookshelf in the store. 

Ollivander came out and greeted the kids, the girl stepped forwards first, “Nancy Wheeler, and I would like a wand please.” 

Ollivander chuckled, “Ah yes you are just like your mother. Her wand beechwood and unicorn hair, six inches and quite supple.” He muttered to himself as he pulled boxes off the shelves and handed them over to Nancy until he found the right one. 

It took five wands before Ollivander seemed to have found the one. Steve didn’t exactly know what happened, he just noticed sparks come out of the wand and everyone clapped so he followed suit. 

Ollivander moved his attention over to Steve, “And you are?” 

Steve stuck out his hand, “Uh Steve Harrington sir.” 

Ollivander broke out into a smile, “Is your mother here with you? She had quite the time buying a wand.” He mused as he started to grab some boxes. 

“She err was busy today.” Steve supplied as the box pile started to grow in front of him. 

“Well go on boy, try out some wands.” 

He took the first one and before he could do anything Ollivander had snatched it from him and supplied a different one. 

He went through eleven wands. Nancy had gotten bored and headed off to get her robes fitted and told him to meet them there. 

Steve had started to feel hopeless, that maybe he wasn’t actually a wizard and that it was all a mistake. Even Ollivander seemed flustered, even though he assured Steve they would be able to find the right wand. It was after all as he said ‘the wand that picks the wizard’. The shop had papers, wands, and boxes strewn about from the spells that the wands would shoot off and it was only getting worse. 

Until he was handed a long black wand.

“Ebony and phoenix feather. Ten inches. Nice and springy. Try this one out.” 

Steve took the wand and raised it above his head. The wand seemed to fit in his hand and red sparks shot out from the tip. He broke out into a smile. He could tell this was the one. 

Ollivander sighed in what Steve could tell was relief and after purchasing the wand he headed over to meet up with the Wheelers. 

They bounced around every shop and knocked off most of the items from their lists. They got parchment and quills, a set of scales, a telescope, a pewter cauldron, and several items from the apothecary that had Steve’s head spinning. The last place on their list was  _ Eeylops Owl Emporium  _ where Nancy asked her parents if they’d buy her an owl, while they argued that they had just bought her a cat. Steve stopped listening to their argument and began to walk around the tiny store. There were cages of owls everywhere and it was  _ loud, _ but they were all so beautiful. He was particularly caught by a brown tawny owl that had big eyes that seemed to follow Steve wherever he went. 

He named him Pepper. 

They headed out of the shop and stopped to get some lunch before they split up. Nancy’s mom had bewitched Steve’s cauldron to be able to fit all his stuff, for just long enough for him to get to his mom’s car. He thanked them before he ran off, and Nancy yelled that they would see each other at Hogwarts. 

He couldn’t wait. 

* * *

It seemed like September first came out of nowhere and before Steve knew it he was grabbing his stuff out of the trunk of his mom's car and heading towards platform 9 ¾. His mom had hugged him briefly before she drove off, and didn’t help him to the platform at all, which was unfortunately typical for her. He knew what to do though, she had at least told him that. Still it was a little scary to run at a brick wall when you’ve never done it before. He followed the suit of some other kids and ran directly at the wall, his trolley in front of him. He half expected to feel his trolley smash into the wall but instead he was greeted with the sight of a giant train, smoke, and other wizards all around him. Before he could take it all in he heard someone shout in front of him and looked to see Nancy running at him. They collided in a painful hug while Nancy spoke a million miles a minute about how nervous she was. 

“Let’s get on the train, the carriages are filling up fast and I don’t want to be squished in with a bunch of people I don’t know.” She hardly left him a choice as she grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the train. Thankfully Ted helped him haul all his stuff onto the train, and soon they were sitting in a small compartment with their trunks, Steve’s owl, and Nancy’s cat. 

“What house do you think you’ll be in?” Nancy asked as the train started to move. He was struck by the fear that entered his body. He hoped he fit in. 

“Well my mom’s a Hufflepuff so I figure I’ll probably follow in her footsteps. What about you?”

Nancy beamed, “My family are all Gryffindors so surely I will be one too.” 

Steve frowned as he realized they might not be in the same house. Nancy seemed to get his vibe, “Don’t worry I’m sure we will see each other often, and will have classes together.” 

They rode in silence until the snack trolley arrived. Nancy claimed to not be hungry but then proceeded to eat half the chocolate frogs Steve had bought. He didn’t mind. 

“How long did you know you were a wizard?” He asked a little while later, as they looked out the window. Night had started to fall and it was getting harder to see their surroundings as the train moved along. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well like I didn’t really know until my letter came since my dad is a muggle.” 

Nancy sighed slightly, “Well my family is pureblood so we pretty much always knew. Plus I had been doing magic since I was a baby.” 

Steve felt nervous, he had read the books around the house and grilled his mother for all the information he could but he still grew up in a muggle-like family. His father pretty much pretended wizards and witches didn’t exist, even though he was married to one. So even though Steve had magic in the family, he didn’t feel like he was up to his peers' knowledge. 

He opened up to Nancy about his fears. 

“Don’t worry Steve that’s why we are all going to Hogwarts. To learn all about magic. There are kids from non magic families here and there are pureblood kids and all in between. We are all going to learn. It’s going to be great.” 

It helped ease his nerves. 

That is until the train slowed down and eventually stopped. They had changed into their robes and Steve felt a million nerves bounce around his body. They left their trunks on the train and headed over to a big man who was calling out for the first years to join him. Nancy seemed more nervous as they stepped off the train and she grabbed onto Steve’s arm as they made their way in the dark. They were led down a path and then led to boats that were perched on the edge of a large lake. They got in a boat with two other first years and when everyone was in the boats sailed off towards the castle. After they went through a large tunnel they were deposited at the base of some large stone steps. The giant man looked at them all when they got out of the boats. He knocked on the door that was atop of the steps. 

“Welcome to Hogwarts.” 


	2. Holiday

Everyone gasped as the giant doors swung open to reveal the Great Hall. There were long tables, floating candles, banners, and wizards everywhere. Beside him Nancy had gasped and they looked over at each other, curiosity written on both of their faces. 

Professor McGonagall led them away from the Great Hall and over to a corridor. She began to explain to them what would happen once they entered the Great Hall again. They would all form a line and start the sorting ceremony, and once that was complete they would enjoy the feast. Steve could hardly hear what she was saying though as he stared at everything around him. All the books hadn’t done Hogwarts justice, and he had only seen a small part so far. The castle itself was just made out of stone but it had decorations everywhere and had an overall feel of magic. 

They all shuffled back into the Great Hall and the sorting ceremony commenced. After every person was announced into a house, the entire room would fall into applause. A shy scared looking kid named Jonathan Byers got placed in Hufflepuff. A few others got put into Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Then it was almost Steve’s turn, there was just one kid in front of him. He had curly brownish blonde hair in what Steve could only assume was a mullet and he looked pissed off. The sorting hat took only a few seconds to call out Slytherin for him, and then it was Steve’s turn. He awkwardly shuffled up to the chair and sat down. The hat fell on his head and obscured most of his vision. Everyone was silent, except for the hat. 

_ “Quite the courage on this one, but not so much the brains, perhaps not a good fit for there, but would be quite well fitted as he is loyal…”  _

The hat droned on in Steve’s ear and he locked eyes with Nancy who was still in line. She smiled and gave him a thumbs up. 

“Gryffindor.” The hat suddenly yelled. Steve broke out into a smile as he headed over to their table. He got many people clapping him on the back and welcoming him to their house. 

A few more kids got sorted and then it was time for Nancy to go up. Steve watched with eager eyes as she sat on the stool. She didn’t look too happy with what the hat seemed to be saying until it shouted out, “Gryffindor.” 

She ran over and sat down right next to Steve. They hugged quickly and looked back up front where the sorting hat had been put away and a tall old wizard had taken stand. Steve recognized him as Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. 

He welcomed them all to Hogwarts and laid out the rules of what in the castle and outside of it was off limits. He then waved his wand and every table filled with all different kinds of food. Steve smiled as they all began to dig in and fill their plates. Steve had never felt so happy in his life. He had a table of people that he was supposed to think of as family, was going to learn cool magic, and best of all, was far away from his family who didn’t actually care about him. Instead he was with Nancy who seemed absolutely delighted that they were in the same house. 

“I think the hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw. It kept talking about how I possess a great amount of wisdom and creativity.” She whispered to Steve as their plates had emptied and been refilled with desserts. 

Steve leaned towards her as he grabbed a piece of cake, “I thought the sorting hat was going to put me in Hufflepuff, said something about me being loyal.” 

“Well I’m glad we are both Gryffindors.” 

Steve beamed, “Me too.” 

After dessert they had all filed out of the Great Hall and followed the heads of their houses to their common rooms. The head boy explained how to enter the common room, there would be a password and you said it to the portrait of the fat lady, and the password was boomslang. 

The Gryffindor common room was warm and inviting with multiple chairs near a fireplace, and the girls and the boys split off to their respective dormitories. Steve headed to the four poster bed that had his trunk and Pepper on it and began to get ready for bed. They had a big day in front of them, and Steve was tired from all the excitement of getting to Hogwarts. He let Pepper out so he could fly around and Steve settled in for bed. 

The next day they started bright and early and after getting a good breakfast the Gryffindors and the Slytherins headed down to the dungeons for their first potions class. The teacher was professor Snape and he was as unpleasant as the rumors had said. They had entered the room and immediately were told to brew the Antidote to Common Poisons. Most of the kids near him groaned but got on with it, Steve had no idea where to even start. He spent a good amount of time just looking at his cauldron before he fished out his books and took a look through them. He found the potion in Magical Drafts and Potions and got to work. He needed something called a bezoar, a unicorn horn, and mistletoe berries. The rest of the class was well onto their potion by the time Steve had gathered everything and had started his potion, and Snape had noticed. 

“Now you will see there is no time for fooling around in my class.” Snape had snarled as he passed by Steve. 

By the end of the class only one Slytherin had gotten the potion correct, it was the same kid that had stood in front of Steve at the sorting and Snape awarded them five points. Steve tried not to let it crush his spirits as they headed to lunch. Nancy had been fuming, she had practically memorized the potion steps but still her potion wasn’t up to Snape standards. 

“Mine was just as good as that Slytherins, he just liked him since it’s his house.” She growled. 

Steve smiled and took her hand, “Nancy I’m sure it’s just a Snape thing. I bet our next class will be so much better.” 

She smiled but it didn’t ease the tension she had in her shoulders. Steve was quickly learning how Nancy wanted to be good at everything, top of the class even. She was smart too, she could do it. 

They had transfiguration after lunch with professor McGonagall and Nancy seemed to perk up after they started with the lesson. They spent the entirety of the first class going over the curriculum and what to expect in her class. They left with high hopes of what that class would teach them, Steve couldn’t wait to transfigure a desk into a pig (which if they were lucky would come later in the year). 

Overall Steve’s first official day at Hogwarts had been a success. He did unfortunately have to spend the time between his last class and dinner working on the potions homework he had. Snape had assigned them three parchments of writing on the uses of bezoars, and where to find them. He and Nancy shared books in the Gryffindor common room as they and several others wrote their potions homework. 

“Who assigns so much homework on the first day?” A fellow Gryffindor complained. Steve remembered his name being Tommy.

“Snape just wants to see us suffer.” Nancy groaned. He didn’t know why she was complaining though, she only had half a parchment to go where Steve was still stuck on the first one. 

They all headed off to the Great Hall when they had finally finished their work, and they all enjoyed dinner together. All in all it still was the best day Steve could remember having, even with Snape.

Nancy and Steve said their goodbyes once they returned to the common room and they both headed off to bed. It was the first time in a while that Steve was so worn out from his day that he got a full night of sleep with no nightmares. 

The next few weeks passed by quickly as they all got comfortable in their classes and with navigating throughout the castle. Steve had gotten used to the stairs impromptu movement even when students were standing on them. Steve had started doing better in his classes once he got them all figured out, and spent time after dinner every night in the common room, reading up on his classes. Nancy joked that he was trying to be a teacher's pet but she was the true teacher's pet. She had charmed every teacher (Snape aside) and was getting top marks in almost every class, flying lessons were not her strong suit. Steve though, once he got comfortable with a broom, loved every second in the air. He was going to try to get on the Gryffindor quidditch team in his second year. He figured he’d be a pretty good beater. Steve was one of the few students to actually enjoy his History of Magic class, and it was only because he was actually curious about the stuff they were learning. It was also the coolest thing to have a teacher that was a ghost, even if he did drone on sometimes. They had started off learning about the Gargoyle Strike of 1911 which hadn’t been the most interesting but they had moved onto learning the Werewolf Code of Conduct which Steve found he liked very much. Overall he and Nancy were both doing quite well in their classes, to Steve’s complete surprise. 

Nancy's parents sent Steve letters on occasion, he suspected Nancy told them that his own family neglected to write to him. For Christmas break Steve chose to stay at Hogwarts instead of returning home, however Nancy was going to go home for the holidays. Steve didn’t mind the idea of being alone for a few days, he would have a decent amount of time to mess around in the mostly empty castle. 

If Filch would leave him alone that is. 

Steve started his holiday by finishing the potions homework he had been assigned. Snape had actually gone easy on them and only had them write a parchment on what would happen if powdered root of asphodel was added to an Infusion of Wormwood. His transfiguration homework was easy as well, just some reading and writing on the transfiguration formula. For his herbology class he had to write up about Devils snare and how to identify it. He was finished with it all by the time lunch time rolled around and he made his way to the Great Hall feeling quite accomplished. A few students were already at their tables, there weren’t many that chose to stay at Hogwarts over the holiday. The professors all stayed at Hogwarts as well, which meant Steve could ask for help on some of his classes that he had been struggling with. That also meant he would have to talk to Snape, which didn’t sound like the best holiday ever. 

Steve dug into his meal alone, he was the only Gryffindor that stayed. There were a handful of Hufflepuffs, three Ravenclaws, and two Slytherins. The Hufflepuffs made eye contact with Steve and waved him over. 

“I’m sure with so few students here they won’t mind if we all sit together.” 

Steve smiled and headed over to their table, the Ravenclaws following suit. The Slytherins didn’t look up as everyone moved. 

Steve looked at the boy with the mullet and motioned for them to join everyone at the Hufflepuff table. 

He got up and joined them and the other Slytherin headed back to his common room. 

“Have you guys figured out the potions homework?” A red headed Hufflepuff asked. 

Steve smiled, for once he actually knew the answer, “That’s the question about what would happen if powdered root of asphodel is added to an Infusion of Wormwood?”

The Hufflepuff nodded. 

“It brews a sleeping potion that is so potent and they call it the Draught of Living Death.” This was said by the Slytherin before Steve could answer. 

Steve half glared at the boy and he only smirked in return. 

Steve held out his hand, “Steve Harrington.” 

He chuckled before shaking his hand, “Billy Hargrove.” 

They finished the rest of their food in silence. The Hufflepuffs got up and smiled as they all left, and Steve took that as his cue to leave. 

Surprisingly Billy was right behind him as they exited the Great Hall. 

“So you’re at the top of our potions class.” Steve stated. 

“Good observation.” 

He laughed nervously before continuing on, “Well er we have a few days of the break left and I’m pretty terrible at potions you see.”

Billy laughed, “So what you want me to spend my break helping you get better at potions?” 

“Well what else are you going to do?”

Billy nodded his head in agreement, “Got me there. Alright I will help you in potions, if you help me with my herbology homework.” 

Steve broke out into a smile, “Deal.” He shouted and jumped over the boy in a hug. He bounded off to the Gryffindor common room before Billy could react. 


	3. Go go Gryffindor!

Steve bounded into the library with all his books and parchment and sat at a table. He was early for his and Billy’s meeting but that was intentional. Steve liked to be early so he had time to prepare and get everything ready, one of his least favorite things was being late and unprepared. He got out Magical Drafts and Potions and started reading while he waited for Billy to arrive. It wasn’t just that Snape seemed to dislike anyone who wasn’t in his house, Steve had managed to mess up almost all of the potions he had been instructed to make. It got bad enough the last class Snape had him do book work instead. He tried to follow the instructions the best he could but he always seemed to mess something up, and brewing potions was something you had to get perfectly right or they didn’t work. 

Steve looked up as Billy pulled back the chair opposite of him, “Have you been here long?” 

Steve smiled, “No I just got here.” Which was a lie but Billy didn’t need to know that Steve got there ten minutes early on purpose. 

They started off with Billy's Herbology homework, which was the same one Steve had, the write up on Devil's snare. Steve pointed out texts he found that mentioned the plant and Billy worked on the write up as Steve spoke. It didn’t take too long for them to finish it, Professor Sprout didn’t care too much about the length of the writing, just that it had all the correct information. 

“So what is it that you struggle with in potions?” Billy asked as they finished up with Herbology. 

Steve shook his head, “I don’t even know I just usually follow what the book says and then something is wrong and Snape yells at me.” He couldn’t help as the tears sprung to his eyes. 

Billy pulled open his potions book, “Okay well let’s talk through these potions. I heard a rumor that next class we will be brewing a forgetfulness potion, so we can look at that one for now.” 

They flipped to the page with the forgetfulness potion and began to read it.

“Okay part one seems to be pretty straight forward.” Steve said as he read through it. 

  * _Add 2 drops of Lethe River Water to your cauldron_


  * Gently heat for 20 seconds


  * Add 2 Valerian sprigs to your cauldron


  * Stir 3 times, clockwise


  * Wave your wand


  * Leave to brew and return in 45-60 minutes



“When it says drops what do you usually do?” Billy asked after he read the steps. 

“Uh add the amount of drops.” 

“Yeah but do you focus on the size of the drops? They have to be the same size, that’s the whole thing with brewing a potion. It’s incredibly precise.” 

Steve shook his head, “I guess I’m not precise.” 

“Well okay anytime you have to add an ingredient just make sure if it says two or more that they are all the same, and make sure when you stir you go all the way around the cauldron.” 

Steve felt silly as he wrote down Billy’s instructions. 

“Okay let’s look at the second part.” 

  * _Add 2 measures of Standard Ingredient to the mortar_


  * Add 4 mistletoe berries to the mortar


  * Crush into a medium-fine powder using the pestle


  * Add 2 pinches of the crushed mixture to your cauldron


  * Stir 5 times, anti-clockwise


  * Wave your wand to complete the potion



“So with this, you would just want to make sure your pinches were the exact same, and that you add the mistletoe berries all at once, but do it slowly so it doesn’t splash.” 

Steve wrote it all down, “What exactly is medium-fine powder though?” 

Billy shrugged, “I usually just crush it until it turns into a sand like texture. It sometimes doesn’t matter so much the exact steps of the potion, but what I have found matters the most is consistency. Make sure when you add any ingredient you add it in a consistent way, a consistent amount. That’s what matters.” 

Steve smiled, “Thank you, I hope I do better on the next potion.” 

“You will. I hope Professor Sprout is happy that I did her homework, I usually come up with excuses.” 

They gathered their supplies from the table and headed out to the Great Hall for lunch. 

“Well maybe we could be like, study buddies. I could help you with Herbology and you can help me with potions.” Steve said as they sat down. 

“I’d like that.”

  
  


Break ended sooner then Steve would have liked and before he knew it everyone had come back and they had resumed classes. The snow had covered the castle grounds since the beginning of December, but that didn’t stop Hogwarts. They still held their all their outdoors classes; Herbology, Flying lessons, and Astronomy, outside in the chilly weather, and they still had quidditch matches. They had one two weeks after they all came back from break, it was Slytherin vs. Gryffindor, and it was a big deal. Gryffindor hadn’t been doing the best in the previous years quidditch wise so they were trying really hard that year to win every match. The entire school seemed to be rooting for a team, and most of them were rooting for Gryffindor. 

Steve joined his fellow classmates at the quidditch pitch and headed to the stands where Nancy was already sitting. They all had their winter cloaks on, scarves, hats, and gloves due to the chilling air and frost that surrounded them. 

“Are you excited?” Steve asked as he sat next to Nancy. 

“A little. Mainly I’m cold and want to go work on my Astrology homework.” 

Steve laughed and bumped her shoulder, “Come on this is like the one time we get to have fun.”

She smiled and they watched as the quidditch teams came onto the field. Steve looked past the coach as they prepared and into the Slytherin stands, where he could just barely make out Billy’s face in the crowd. Steve’s eyes snapped back to the field as Madam Hooch’s whistle sounded and the players were off in the air. There were quite a few teachers around the pitch as the game progressed, it was known that Slytherin liked to play dirty. The Gryffindor chasers got a few goals while the Slytherin beaters went on a relentless attack on the other team’s players. It was getting intense, and Nancy grabbed onto Steve for support, quidditch made her nervous. 

Steve cheered with the rest as Gryffindor scored a few points and boo’d when Slytherin got a penalty. Everyone stood up and watched as the Gryffindor seeker started to fly around in the sky, and Steve saw for a split second a gold ball fly through the air. They all gasped and stood in silence as the seeker raced around the sky and finally landed on the pitch, the golden snitch held high in his hand. Steve and Nancy jumped up and down as they cheered, and everyone erupted in noise. 

“Oh god you know what this means?” Nancy groaned. 

“What?”

“The common room is going to be a party all night.” 

She wasn’t wrong. When they all got back to the common room everyone was out and celebrating the win. They held the quidditch team on their shoulders and ran around chanting, “Go go Gryffindor!” 

“I think I might go to my dormitory, I can’t work with all this noise. I really need to get my homework done and some studying.” Nancy said. They were seated on the crappy chairs in the corner because the rest of the room was taken by the people celebrating. 

“Yeah okay I should probably do that too. I have loads to do for Charms and Transfiguration.” 

“Goodnight Steve.” 

He smiled as he gathered his stuff and headed to his bed, “Goodnight Nance.” 

He spread out his textbooks on his bed and got to work. He had loads to study for, they had started to prepare for exams, and all the teachers had piled on homework and schoolwork. 

He stayed up until everyone had tired out from their party and headed to their beds, he turned out his light and headed to bed as well.

The following day Gryffindors had double potions with Slytherin, and Steve was dreading it. 

“It’ll be okay, I’m sure Snape will be fine, just don’t do anything to attract his attention.” 

“He always comes by right as I mess up, it’s like a secret power he has.” 

Nancy laughed, “Maybe you mess up when he walks by because you are nervous.” 

“No that can’t be it.” Steve shook his head and finished his breakfast. Nancy sighed but didn’t press him any further. They headed down to the dungeons with the other Gryffindors, Slytherin was already there. 

“Alright class, today you will be brewing cure for boils. Try not to mess this up. If done wrong, it could be disastrous.” He looked directly at Steve while he spoke. 

Steve looked across the room at Billy as they started the potion. He had his head down and was reading the text, so Steve followed suit. 

  * _Add 6 snake fangs to the mortar._


  * Crush into a fine powder using the pestle.


  * Add 4 measures of the crushed fangs to your cauldron.


  * Heat the mixture to 250 for 10 seconds.


  * Wave your wand.


  * Leave to brew and return in 33-45 minutes.



Steve crushed the fangs into a fine powder and added the measures to the cauldron. He did what Billy recommended and kept every measure the exact same. The rest of the class seemed to be at the same step, and Steve pressed forward. He turned on the heat below the cauldron and held it there for ten seconds. He sighed in relief when Snape passed behind him and didn’t say anything. He waved his wand and the potion steamed slightly, which seemed to be what Billy’s was doing which felt like a success. Steve worked on his write up on the twelve uses of dragon blood while he waited for his potion to brew. Part two of the potion was a bit more complex. 

  * _Add 4 horned slugs to your cauldron._


  * Take the cauldron off the fire before adding the next ingredient.


  * Add 2 porcupine quills to your cauldron.


  * Stir 5 times, clockwise.


  * Wave your wand to complete the potion.



Steve added all the horned slugs slowly so there was no splash and took it off the heat. He looked up as Snape yelled at one of his classmates and locked eyes with Billy, he was already done with his potion. He smiled slightly and gave Steve a small thumbs up before returning to his parchment. Steve added the porcupine quills slowly as well and stirred the potion. He took a deep breath and waved his wand above the potion, it turned a dark red color and settled. It didn’t explode and Steve took that as a win. 

“Well then Harrington, are you done?” Snape snarled, suddenly in front of Steve’s cauldron. 

“Yes sir, I just finished.” 

Snape looked at the potion for a couple minutes, “It’s not the worst I’ve ever seen.” 

He walked away and Steve smiled and high fived Nancy who was seated next to him. He looked over to Billy who was still silently working on his writing. They all looked over as two Slytherins screamed and a cauldron exploded with a green goo. 

Snape sighed, “Class dismissed, except for you two, you will be expected to clean your mess.” 

Steve grabbed Nancy and they ran off to the Great Hall before Snape could force them to clean up the mess as well. 

As they sat down Billy passed by their table, “Nice job.” 

“Thank you, it was mainly because of your help.” 

Billy didn’t say anything but he smiled before he headed off to his table. 


	4. I Told You So

The next few weeks went by rather quickly with Steve and Billy spending all their free time with each other. It started off they would just meet up a couple days before they had an important exam or a big homework assignment due, but that quickly turned into them meeting in the library before and after classes, meals, and during their free time. Most of the time they didn’t even do any work. Steve had spent less and less time studying and doing homework and more and more time whispering to Billy in the library, or in the hallway between their classes. Nancy had noticed and took every opportunity she had to criticize him for it. 

“Come on Steve, if I hadn’t given you my Astronomy homework during breakfast you would have failed our surprise exam today.” She had yelled at him one day. It was true. He hadn’t done the homework, or the reading, and the only reason he did well on the exam was because he had read her homework beforehand.

Steve knew deep down that it was bad, and it was all going to blow up in his face, but he enjoyed having a friend. He had never had a best friend, only a bunch of people that were friends with him because they knew his family had money. Billy didn’t know anything about Steve’s family. They didn't even do too much, just sat around and talked about life, classes, drama. He had learned a lot about what went on in the Slytherin common room, and how all the Slyherins disliked almost all the Professors, except for Snape. It was nice to hang out with a boy his age as well, he loved hanging out with Nancy and all, but it wasn’t the same. So even though he knew he should be studying or doing the homework that he had, he was in the library again. 

Billy threw a crumpled up piece of parchment at his head, “Do you want to explore the castle tonight?” 

Steve frowned, “That’s not allowed.” 

“Well duh, that’s why we gotta be sneaky.” Billy said and threw another parchment ball at Steve’s head. He deflected it and it laid at his feet. 

“I don’t know, we could get in a lot of trouble if we got caught.” 

Billy laughed, “That’s why we won’t get caught.” 

Steve was still unsure, it would be a big deal if they got caught. He didn’t want to risk getting in trouble and possibly expelled, Hogwarts was the best place he had ever been. 

Billy was looking at him all excited though, “Come on Steve, it’ll be fun!”

“Okay okay, but only for a short amount of time and if we hear anyone or anything we go back.” 

Billy whooped and Steve laughed at him while they headed to their next class. 

Steve didn’t tell Nancy about his and Billy’s plans, she would only try to talk him out of it, and possibly tell on them. Instead he just worked on the homework he had (he had gotten a glare from all his professors and figured it was time to do some of it) and waited until everyone went to bed. He waited fifteen minutes after the last person went to bed to make sure he was in the clear, and then he exited the Gryffindor common room. They had decided to meet up outside of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, it was the safest area that was near both of their common rooms. Steve stood in front of the bathroom door, Billy was nowhere in sight. The castle was dark, and he could hardly see two feet in front of him. He hoped Filch wasn’t around, he had nowhere to hide if someone did come. He guessed he could hide in the girls bathroom, but Moaning Myrtle might give him away. She wasn't exactly quiet. He looked down the corridor towards the Slytherin common room, he was going to give Billy five minutes before he left back to his common room. He thought up lies in case anyone showed up, but he didn’t think Filch would buy that he got lost. Maybe he could say he had gotten hungry and wanted to see if he could find a snack. 

Finally Billy appeared, looking chill and not worried at all. In fact he looked excited. 

“There you are, I was about to leave.” 

“Aw thought I forgot, did you?” 

Steve laughed and shoved his shoulder, “So uh what do you want to do?” 

Billy didn’t say anything but started walking, Steve followed close behind. Neither of them brought a light, in case it would draw attention, so they just had to wander in the dark. 

Billy seemed to know where he was going though, and Steve wondered if he had done this before. 

“Where are we going?” Steve asked as they passed the courtyard. 

Billy shushed him and didn’t answer. They walked in silence until they ended up at the library door. 

“You want to go explore the library? We are here everyday though.” 

Billy smiled and slowly opened the door, “There are some things we aren’t allowed to see.” 

“Oh you want to get into the restricted section? I’m sure you could just ask whichever professor it is and get a note to get whatever book you need.” 

Billy stared at him like he was stupid, “It’s not for a class.” 

Steve followed as Billy walked right into the restricted section and started looking. It looked like he knew what he was looking for, while Steve just stood back and admired the books from a safe distance. He had heard many things about the books in the restricted section, and if any of them were true, he didn't want to touch any of them. Billy sighed as he pulled a book out and it didn’t seem to be the one he wanted. 

Finally, Billy pulled out a small green book that was bound shut with string. He pocketed the book and walked back over to Steve. 

“You ready?” 

“What book did you take?” Steve asked as they quietly left the library. 

Billy frowned, “I didn’t take any book.” 

“I saw you put it in your pocket.” Steve said, a little too loud for the corridor. 

“Be quiet.” Billy shushed him and they headed back in the direction of their common rooms. It was a blessing that they didn’t bump into Filch, his cat Mrs. Norris, or Peeves. They did see a few ghosts, but they went through the walls into the Great Hall before they saw them. They came up on the Slytherin common room first and Billy headed off without a word to Steve. 

It was weird. Why did he lie about taking the book? Steve was fuming as he made his way towards his common room. The castle was dark and he feared bumping into something. 

“Lumos.”

The tip of his wand lit up to reveal two big eyes that belonged to Mrs. Norris. She stood right in front of Steve, and before he could do anything, she ran past him, presumably to get Filch. 

Fuck. Shit. He was in so much trouble. He sprinted back to the Gryffindor common room entrance, not caring if he made too much noise. Filch already knew there was a student out of bed, he couldn’t do much more but get to the common room, which thankfully, he wasn’t too far away. He arrived at the Fat Lady and frantically yelled the password at her. 

She was sleeping, and did not appreciate being woken up. 

“Young man, what are you doing out of the common room so late?” 

“Boomslang, boomslang, boomslang!”

“Alright alright.” She sighed and swung open and Steve climbed inside.

As the painting started to close he heard Filch yell something, Steve didn’t stick around to see what happened. He ran up to his bed and jumped in it. His adrenaline was soaring through him and he didn’t fall asleep for several hours. 

Steve had dark circles under his eyes and he could tell he looked like he hadn’t slept much. Nancy kept asking him what was wrong at breakfast. He told her everything was fine, but he was secretly waiting for something bad to happen. There was no way he had gotten away last night, and he knew it was only a matter of time before someone let him know that he was in trouble. 

Nothing happened in Charms, except one of his classmates accidentally set her textbook on fire while they were practicing the Incendio charm. 

Lunch went by and nobody said anything to him, Filch gave him a nasty look, but he did that with everyone. 

His last class of the day was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, and Steve had started to feel like he was in the clear. He really liked his Transfiguration class, and he liked when Professor McGonagall seemed proud of him. She was very strict in her classroom, but unlike Professor Snape, if you did something well or correct, she would praise you. She was his and Nancy's favorite professor, and most of Gryffindor felt the same. As the class ended and everyone got up to head to their common rooms for some free time before dinner, she called Steve over to her desk. 

“Could you stay here Mr. Harrington, just for a moment.” It was less of a question and more of a statement. He nodded and stood by her desk as she cleared the room and shut the doors. His heart fell down in his chest, she was the head of his house, it made sense for her to punish him. He hadn't gotten away with last night after all. She moved over to the desk and sat down, “Please sit.” 

Steve did what he was told. 

“Now Mr. Harrington, I wanted to talk to you. You see, you failed our last exam.” 

Steve gasped audibly and she continued on. 

“Now I thought this was out of character because ever since you got here you have worked hard in all your classes. The other professors and I have spoken and you seem to be doing bad in all of your other classes.” 

Steve felt tears forming in his eyes, he looked down at his lap while she spoke. 

“I know you have been hanging out with Mr. Hargrove lately and it seems that’s around the time you started slipping in your classes. I just want you to know that if you continue on this path, nothing good will come of it. You are a good student Mr. Harrington. Please don’t let someone else change that.”

Steve nodded and wiped away the few tears that had slipped out. 

“I’m sorry Professor.” 

She smiled softly, “Mr. Hargrove is a bad influence, and I’m afraid you have just been sucked into it. It happens, but only you can stop it from continuing.” 

Steve got up before he burst into tears, “Thank you Professor, I will think about that.” 

“One more thing, I heard that you would be interested in trying out for the quidditch team next year, is that correct?” 

Steve smiled, “Uh yeah, I love quidditch. I would love to play it.” 

McGonagall shook her head slightly, “Well if you don’t start doing better in your classes, you can say goodbye to quidditch.” 

Steve nodded and left her classroom. He knew he had been slipping behind, but to actually fail an exam. It wasn’t acceptable. He would just have to tell Billy that he needed to do his homework and study more often when they hung out. He wiped his face before he entered the common room. 

Immediately Nancy was by his side, “What was that about?” 

Steve groaned, he knew Nancy was going to say she told him so, “I uh I failed one of my Transfiguration exams.” 

Nancy was speechless as they walked to the armchairs and sat down. He felt the tears well up behind his eyes again. 

“I know that you warned me about this so you don’t have to say you told me so.” 

Nancy shook her head, “Steve I wasn’t going to say that.” 

He looked at the fireplace, “I messed up. McGonagall said I won’t be able to try out for the quidditch team next year if I don’t get my grades up.” 

Nancy touched his arm, “Well okay then we just have to study more. Maybe you can uh stop hanging out with Billy all the time and you and I could study like we used to?” 

Steve smiled, “You still want to study with me? Even though I stopped talking to you for like a month so I could hang out with a  _ Slytherin _ ?”

Nancy laughed, “I was definitely mad at you for a bit, but I’m over it now.” 

“I’m sorry, Nance. That was not cool of me.” 

“No it wasn’t. You can make it up to me though.” 

“How?” 

She rolled her eyes, “By being my friend again.” 

Steve smiled and pulled her into a quick hug, “I was never not your friend, I was just being a  _ bad  _ friend.” 

They started to make their way down to the Great Hall for dinner. 

“Oh uh you might get a few letters from my parents. I told them last week about you ignoring me.” 

Steve laughed and shoved Nancy, “Nancy now they are going to hate me!” 

“Just a little.” 

He laughed some more as they took their seats, and he avoided making eye contact with Billy, several tables down. 


	5. All Good Things Seem To End

Steve did actually get a letter from Nancy’s mom, it arrived a few days after they made up. It arrived by their family owl, Smithers, and was in a fancy large envelope.

“I didn’t think they would  _ actually  _ write you a letter.” Nancy said as Steve read it. She almost seemed jealous, or mad or something, Steve couldn’t tell. He ignored her as he ripped open the envelope and read the letter. 

_ Dear Mr. Harrington,  _

_ I hope this letter finds you well, Nancy has told me a bit about what you have been up to. I heard you made a new friend, and it doesn’t seem Nancy is too fond of him. She is terribly lonely without you. She is also a bit dramatic.  _

_ I just wanted to write to you to make sure you were okay. I remember my first year at Hogwarts. I made a lot of friends, but not all of them were good, if you know what I mean. I made a lot of mistakes, and I grew from them. Mostly. I don’t mean to intrude in your life, I just wanted to make sure you know you have support. Despite the little fight you and Nancy seem to be in, I am here for you if you would like me to be.  _

_ Please just keep in mind what you want and what makes you happy, and chase that.  _

_ Also could you tell Nancy that she did leave a couple of her books here over break, and we will be sending them shortly. She is usually so put together, I’m not sure how she could have forgotten so much this time. She must be stressed out. All you kids must be stressed out, possibly scared, and hopefully having fun. Not too much fun though, you still do have to learn and go to class, do your work. Why else would you be at Hogwarts if not to learn?  _

_ That is the main reason I am writing to you, feel free to write to me if you need any help or guidance, or if you just want to write out how you are feeling.  _

_ Thank you, and don’t be too hard on yourself, it’s your first year at a new school after all.  _

_ Sincerely,  _

_ Mrs. Wheeler.  _

“So what did she have to say?” Nancy asked, practically looking at the letter herself. 

Steve cleared his throat, “You uh did leave some books at their house over break and they are going to send them here soon.” 

Nancy frowned, “That’s all she said?” 

“Mostly.” 

She frowned a little more before finishing her food. They had potions after breakfast with the Slytherins and Steve could tell Nancy wasn’t too thrilled. Steve had stayed away from Billy since their talk, but it seemed like Nancy was just waiting for that to end. She always got quiet when Billy walked by, but refused it when Steve had asked about it. He guessed it was fair, he did just randomly stop hanging out with her to talk to him. 

Billy had tried to talk to him only twice since they went into the restricted section that night. The first time had been before class and he asked if they were going to meet up in the library afterwards, Steve had said he was busy. Billy had gotten a sour look on his face but didn’t say anything else. 

He cornered Steve a few days later and asked what was wrong with him. 

“What’s wrong with me? You’re the one who stole from the library and then denied it when I  _ saw  _ you do it.” Steve had yelled. 

Billy had looked like he was going to freak out on Steve. 

“Be quiet about that, you don’t know nothing.” 

They had stared each other down for a moment, anger on both their faces, before Steve pushed past him roughly and went to class. Steve wasn’t really that mad about Billy lying about the book, okay he was pretty mad about that, but he was mostly mad at himself. He had almost gotten caught, doing some dumb shit with Billy. It took one friend to almost derail everything Steve had been working towards. He was mad at himself.

Mrs. Wheeler’s letter made him feel even worse. 

_ Please just keep in mind what you want and what makes you happy, and chase that.  _

He had started at Hogwarts with the ideas of getting on the quidditch team at some point, and learning as much as he could, and making friends (good ones, not the ones like Mrs. Wheeler had talked about), and he thought he had been chasing what made him happy. 

He wasn’t exactly sure what made him happy. He could name things that didn’t make him happy for hours. 

The way his dad talked to him. 

The look on Nancy’s face when he blew her off. 

Failing his Transfiguration class. 

Burnt food. 

Feeling lost like that time in Diagon Alley. 

Too tight shirts. 

The way the Slytherins laughed when he walked by. 

Snape. 

There was a lot that made Steve feel bad, but he could only think of a few things that made him happy. 

The first exam he aced, (It was History of Magic and Professor Binns had been really proud of him).

When Nancy smiled at him. 

The feeling he had when he flew around on a broomstick. 

Nancy touched his arm and brought him out of his thoughts. 

“Hey are you ready? You’ve been staring at that piece of toast for like five minutes now.” 

Steve laughed and put the whole slice of toast in his mouth, “Yeah I’m ready.” He said around it. 

“God just  _ chew  _ it Steve. Don’t inhale it.” 

He opened his mouth to answer and she shook her head, “Don’t speak, it’s gross!”

He laughed and almost choked on the food, and Nancy gave him a pointed look. 

Potions wasn’t that bad, they just did a bunch of reviews and Snape yelled for the whole class. It was what they had expected. Billy didn’t make eye contact with Steve the whole class, and Steve guessed it was what he had wanted. It still didn’t feel great. 

After the class Nancy dragged him outside, the sun had started to come out more so the snow had melted and the grass was turning green. Nancy loved to sit next to the big lake and do her school work with Steve. He didn’t mind it, he liked their common room but it could get full up pretty quick, whereas outside didn’t really do that. It was still cold enough they needed sweaters, and Nancy frequently stole Steve’s big cloak while they sat outside. She conveniently never brought hers. 

He didn’t really mind. He liked her being comfortable and warm, even if it meant he shivered a little bit more. 

They worked on their practice work, it was nearing the end of the school year and they were all scrambling to catch up before exams. 

Steve had a lot to work on. He had missed some major information in Charms and Nancy had to pull all her old work out to reteach it to him. Charms was one of the classes he struggled with a bit. It really didn’t help that he hadn’t worked hard on any of his homework for that class, and was playing a major game of catch up. 

Nancy was sweet though, she never yelled when he got things wrong, which is what his dad used to do. She would calmly explain his mistake and teach him the correct way of doing it. He would in turn help her with some of her potions work. She wasn’t bad at potions, but she struggled on getting the potions perfect to Snape's standard. Steve had Billy’s notes written down on some parchment and he read them to Nancy. Steve had a habit when he took notes of just writing down a couple of words that stood out to him, and what he had from he and Billy’s tutor session was; drops, precise, stir (with a drawing of a circle next to it), same, slow, and consistency. He tried to explain his thoughts to Nancy. 

“Uh okay so Billy-” She glared when he mentioned his name and he tried to not do that anymore, “-said it’s important to be consistent with everything you do. Add the same size of drops of something, not just the same amount.” 

Nancy didn’t say anything and Steve could tell she didn’t understand it. He was bad at explaining stuff. 

“Basically you just have to make sure everything is consistent. Same size drops, same size pinches, same size and amount of everything.” 

“What’s uh stir O?” 

Steve laughed, “Uh so that’s supposed to be a circle. You have to make sure you stir it  _ all  _ the way. So, like a circle.” 

She nodded along so Steve continued, “Slow is just for the ingredients, so be slow and cautious when you put them in so it doesn’t splash.” 

Nancy smiled, “Well yes. I don’t want to get splashed with the potion.”

Steve felt dumb for a second, of course Nancy would be cautious from the beginning. 

“Well Nancy some of us want to be splashed okay?” 

She laughed and shoved his arm, “Come on be serious.” 

They continued until they had to return to the castle for dinner. They passed the Slytherin table and Steve kept his head down. Someone wadded up some parchment and lobbed it at his head. He heard all them laugh as he continued on to the Gryffindor table. 

“God what immature boys.” Nancy snarled as they sat down. 

Steve just shrugged, he was used to it. 

“It uh,  _ itwasn’tBilly _ ” She said all quiet and fast. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I know you probably think it was Billy who threw the parchment. It was some other Slytherin, and Billy sort of shoved him off the bench when he did it.” She looked pained when she said Billy’s name. 

Steve just looked down at his empty plate. 

“I didn’t think it was Billy.” 

Nancy frowned, “Steve I mean-”

“I didn’t think he was the one who threw it at me!” 

Nancy recoiled from him when he yelled, and half of the Gryffindor table looked at him. 

“Everyone in Slytherin does that shit.” He grumbled and began to fill his plate when the food appeared. 

“Sorry I just figured-” 

Steve cut her off, again. 

“I know what you thought, and you were wrong.” 

“I-I’m sorry.” She stuttered out. Great, now he felt like a dick. 

“I know.” He meant to say he was sorry for yelling. He somehow couldn’t get the words out. 

Nancy didn’t eat anything and Steve felt even worse. Steve still ate because come on, it was food, and he was hungry. 

Nancy got up and left before Steve had finished, and he had no choice but to abandon his food and follow her. 

She was already at the portrait of the fat lady when Steve finally caught up to her. 

“Hey Nancy wait up.” 

She either didn’t hear him, or didn’t care, and she headed into the common room. It was mostly empty, everyone was down in the Great Hall. 

Steve caught Nancy’s arm as she headed up to the girls dormitory. 

“Nancy wait please, I shouldn’t have yelled.” 

She pushed him off her, “Yeah you shouldn’t have. That’s not why I’m mad though.” 

Steve frowned, “Why are you mad?” 

She laughed, “Come on Steve are you serious?” 

He didn’t respond, just stared at her. He had no idea why she was mad.

“I just hate how you get around Billy or when we talk about him. Steve you were only friends with him for a couple of months and look where it got you?”

Steve looked down at his feet as she continued, “I’ve been your friend since before we came to Hogwarts yet I feel like I come second to a Slytherin that almost got you detention. It’s not fair.” Her voice quivered and Steve wondered if she was going to cry. 

“He’s not even that great.” 

Steve looked up at her, and she did look like she was going to cry. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Nancy sighed, “I know. I’m just mad about it. I should probably go to bed or something. It’s what my parents do when they fight.” 

Steve raised his eyebrow, “Yeah but we aren’t like a married couple or anything.” 

She rolled her eyes, “God I know that Steve. I just meant we should take some time apart before we say something we might regret.” 

It sounded smart. Which made sense since Nancy was smart. 

“Okay.” 

Nancy frowned but turned around and headed to her dormitory, and left Steve out in the empty common room. 


	6. The Lake

Nancy didn’t exactly ignore Steve or anything, but she had been cold with him since their fight in the common room. They still studied together and worked on preparing for their exams, but she didn’t go out of her way to talk to him like she had before. She hung out with other people in their free time and stopped sitting with him at meals. Still, she insisted she wasn’t mad at him. 

“I just want to make sure we have other friends, we can’t be so dependent on each other.” 

She had claimed when Steve asked her about it. Of course she would say something that mature, she probably got it right from her mom. He had started to feel alone even though he was in a castle full of people. The only positive was that Steve was actually doing better in his classes, and wasn’t too nervous for their exams. He was just bummed that summer was coming and he would have to go back home. Nancy was excited to go back home, she liked her family so naturally she missed them. Even though things between them felt weird she still made sure Steve knew he was invited over to her place over the summer, and that he better come hang out with her. 

While Nancy was off hanging out with all her new friends, Steve mainly stayed in his dormitory and hung out with Pepper. 

A fellow Gryffindor named Tommy made fun of him for hanging out with his owl all the time and dragged him outside where everyone else was. It was bright and sunny and warm out, and most of their professors had even taught a few classes outside. Steve didn’t understand why he didn’t feel as happy as everyone else did. He even saw Billy over by the lake with some Slyherins, and he had been laughing. Yet, Steve was just gloom. 

Tommy was nice though, he took Steve everywhere he went even if he just sat in the corner and didn’t do or say much. 

Tommy threw a quill at Carol, (a fellow Gryffindor that Steve suspected Tommy had a crush on), it missed and landed in Steve’s lap. He brushed it off and looked back down at his parchment. He was attempting to write Mrs. Wheeler a letter. It felt silly, and he hadn’t told Nancy about it, but he didn’t know what else to do. She had said he could write to her anyways, Steve just didn’t really know what to say. He only had a few sentences, but it felt lame to be writing about his feelings to his friend’s mom. 

_ Dear Mrs. Wheeler,  _

_ I got your letter, sorry I made Nancy feel like that. I didn’t mean to, and I thought we made up, but she is currently ignoring me. Kinda.  _

_ I don’t know. It’s complicated.  _

_ Anyways, you said I could write to you. Everyone is so excited about summer but I don’t really share those feelings. Why can’t I just stay at Hogwarts year round? It sucks to think I have to go back home and not practice magic.  _

He had rewritten it a few times and settled on what he had. Tommy tried to look at it and Steve shoved him away and threw the quill at his head. He laughed and returned to messing with Carol. 

_ I won’t lie, it feels weird to be writing to my friend’s mom about my problems. If you can call Nancy my friend anyways. She’s been weird these last few days, we got into a fight and she said we should take space. Since then she has studied with me, but doesn’t hang out with me anymore. She had all these new friends now.  _

_ It’s weird, I don’t really have any friends besides Nancy, (I stopped hanging out with that friend Nancy mentioned), but I hadn’t noticed that until now.  _

_ Anyways, I’m sure this is weird for you so I’m just going to end it here, thank you for listening. You don’t have to respond if you don’t want to, it did feel good to just write everything down.  _

_ Thank you,  _

_ Steve Harrington.  _

Steve sealed the letter in an envelope and headed to the owlery before he lost the nerve to send it. The letter didn’t even say much, nothing in it exposed him or anything, but he still felt weird about it. Maybe it was because he hadn’t told Nancy about it. He hoped she wouldn’t get mad when she found out, which he was sure she would. It was her mom after all, it was bound to come up in conversation. 

He startled as he entered the owlery, he had expected it to be alone. 

Billy sat in the corner with a few owls around him, and he was reading a book. He hadn’t noticed Steve at the doorway. 

He awkwardly shuffled in and Pepper flew down to him. He gave her the letter and a treat before he sent her off, and he ignored Billy who was obviously staring at him. He didn’t know if he should say anything or just leave. 

Steve never really knew how to shut up though. 

“Is this like your spot?” He asked after Pepper flew off. 

Billy looked at him for a minute before he answered, “Sometimes.” 

Steve shuffled back towards the doorway, “That’s uh cool. You’re like the elusive owl guy.” 

Billy smiled and returned to his book, Steve took that as his cue to leave. As he turned around Billy piped up behind him, “I took the book.” 

Steve froze but didn’t turn to face him, “Yeah, I know.” 

He heard footsteps and Billy soon appeared next to him in the doorway. 

“I returned it the other night.” 

“What was the book about?” 

Billy frowned and didn’t respond. 

“Okay, why did you lie about taking it?” 

“I figured if we got caught or in trouble it would be better for you if you actually didn’t know that I had done it.” 

Steve smiled, it was sweet of Billy, and at the time he had thought he just didn’t trust him enough to tell him about it. 

“Oh well uh thanks.” 

Billy nodded and continued to stare at Steve. 

“Did I tell you I uh almost got caught when I went back to my common room that night?” He shook his head so Steve continued, “Yeah so as I went back, Mrs. Norris found me and alerted Filch and I had to run from him back to my common room. The fat lady was asleep and she wouldn’t open the door for me until I screamed the password a  _ couple _ of times. Filch had gotten to the portrait as it closed.” 

Billy actually looked slightly impressed, “Wow shit, that was close. Glad you didn’t get caught.” 

Steve laughed, “Yeah me too, I had so many excuses ready too.” 

“Oh yeah? Do share.” 

They walked down the steps together. 

“Well first I was going to go with I got lost after dinner, but I didn’t think he’d buy that.” 

Billy scoffed, “Yeah no way.” 

Steve shoved his shoulder, “Yeah I know, so then I was like, maybe I just came down for a midnight snack and went to the kitchen but found they were closed up with no food.” 

“That’s not too bad.” 

Steve laughed, “Yeah, you like that one? Well you can have it for any further adventures you have.” 

Billy frowned and didn’t respond. They headed towards the lake in silence. 

When they got close enough Tommy waved Steve down. 

“That’s your cue.” Billy said as he continued past everyone and back into the castle. 

Steve stared at him for a moment before he returned to Tommy and Carol. Carol was going off on Tommy for pouring water on her parchment. 

“What were you and Billy talking about?” Nancy stood in front of Steve where he sat in the common room, he had been finishing up his Potions homework.

“What do you mean?” 

“Earlier I was sitting outside and I saw you and him come out of the owlery together. Are you guys best friends again?” She sounded like she was mocking him, but Steve could hear the hurt in her voice. She probably thought he was going to leave her for him again. 

“I sent an owl and bumped into him. We just made small talk, we aren’t really friends or anything, you don’t have to worry about that Nance.” 

She shook her head, “I’m not worried.” 

“Then why did you bring it up?” 

She glared at him before giving into a smile, “Shut up.”

Nancy looked thoughtfully at his paper, “Who were you writing a letter to?” 

Steve was glad for the low amount of light in the common room, he was sure he had turned red. 

“I wrote to your mom, thanking her for her letter and all.” 

Nancy laughed, “You didn’t have to do that.” 

“I know.”

“Hey did you do the potions homework?” 

Steve laughed, for once he was ahead of her. “Oh not doing much school while you hang out with all your new friends I see.” 

Nancy shoved his shoulder, “I was planning to do it tonight, with you.” 

He frowned, “I looked for you when I came in after dinner, but I couldn’t find you.” 

They usually met up in the common room after dinner and did whatever school work they had that night. He had looked for her, and when he couldn’t find her, he got on with the work. 

“Oh sorry yeah I think I was late coming back in, we stayed late to grab some snacks and stuff.” 

Steve perked up at the idea of snacks, “Did you save me any?” 

Nancy pulled out a lump of parchment and opened it up to reveal a few pastries. 

“I would never get snacks and not get you any.” 

He smiled as he ate them, it almost felt like things were going back to normal. 


	7. In the Blink of an Eye

The castle had been full of chaos. Everyone had been preparing for exams, tying up loose ends, and trying to hang out with their friends as much as possible before summer came. Nancy had been more irritating than usual too, and Steve knew it was from the stress of the upcoming exams. He couldn’t lie and say he wasn’t stressed too. It was the end of his first year at Hogwarts, and he really wanted to show that he learned a lot. Plus he really wanted to try out for quidditch in his second year, and he needed good grades to be able to do that. 

On top of all his stress from homework and classes, Mrs. Wheeler had responded to him, and he had to explain to Nancy why he was getting more letters from her mom. 

“I wrote her a letter and she responded, that’s kinda what you do Nancy.” 

“I thought you said you wrote her a thank you letter for her first letter! If that was the case she wouldn’t have responded. You don’t respond to the thank you letter Steve!” 

He had eventually caved and told Nancy that he had written a bit more than just a ‘thank you’. She was manly pissed at him for keeping it a secret to begin with, not so much for the fact that he was writing letters to her mom. 

Nonetheless she had decided for his punishment, Steve had to let her read the letter. 

He didn’t put up much of a fight to be honest, he figured it would be best to let Nancy have her way. 

_ Dear Mr. Harrington,  _

_ I was delighted to receive a letter from you, I’m sorry that you and Nancy are in a fight. I hope by the time I have responded, things have worked out between you two. When a friendship is strong enough it seems that nothing can break two people apart for too long.  _

Steve looked over at Nancy and smiled, and continued to read the rest of the letter. 

_ I remember how upset I was when we all had to go back home every year, but I do think it is good for you. Spend a little bit of time away from the castle, and doing chores for your family, it helps loosen you up from all the stress, and you can come back more level headed. Nancy and I have spoken about it and we agreed that you are welcome to our house over the break any time you would like.  _

_ Don’t worry about making friends Steven, you are a bright boy, and I’m sure you will have many friends. Right now you just have to work hard in your classes and get good marks on your exams. You are going to do great.  _

_ Thank you for writing to me, _

_ Karen Wheeler.  _

_ P.S. Nancy mentions you in her letters, and hasn’t mentioned any of these other friends you’ve told me about. _

Steve laughed at Nancy’s face as it turned red. 

“Why did my mom say that?” She growled. 

Steve laughed again, “Come on Nancy it’s not a big deal. I think it’s sweet.” 

She laughed and slugged him in the arm, “Whatever, let’s go get food.” 

He followed her, he would go anywhere if someone mentioned there was food. 

“Do you think you’ll miss Hogwarts while you are back home?” 

Nancy shrugged, “I guess. It’ll be nice to not worry so much about homework, but there is all that work so we can be prepared for next year..” She trailed off and Steve could tell she was getting worked up over it. When Nancy got stressed she bit her lip and messed with her hair, both of which she had started doing. 

“Hey, come on, thought you wanted food?” 

Nancy smiled, “You mean  _ you _ want food.” 

Steve laughed and shoved her shoulder, “You’re the one who brought it up in the first place!”

She shoved him back lightly and Steve bumped into someone behind him. 

“HEY!”

Steve spun around and was face to face with none other than Billy Hargrove. 

“Hey Billy, sorry for that, Nancy shoved me.” 

Billy didn’t smile, “Next time watch where you are going.” He shoved Steve with his shoulder and knocked his bag off his shoulder as he walked away.

“What’s going on with him? He’s even more, uh, mean than usual.” Nancy asked as she helped Steve collect his stuff. 

Steve shook his head, “I don’t know, we talked the other day and it seemed like things were fine.” 

“Guess we should just get some food.” 

Steve sighed, Billy had gone into the Great Hall, “Or we could not do that.” 

“Steve Harrington, I have never heard you reject food before, and you are not going to do it today because some Slytherin bumped into you.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the Great Hall. Nancy’s hand was warm and soft, and it occurred to Steve that they were  _ holding hands _ . 

“See, the world didn’t actually end.” Nancy said as they got to the Gryffindor table, Steve stuck his tongue out at her. 

“Where’d you guys come from?” Tommy asked as he looked down at their hands. 

Nancy blushed and dropped Steve’s hand, “Just hanging out in the sun.” 

Tommy narrowed his eyes at Steve and he ignored the look and started to load up his plate. He couldn’t figure out why he felt so hot out of nowhere. He took a big gulp of his water and avoided looking at the Slytherin table, and at Tommy. He just looked down at his plate and ate silently. If only his parents knew that the way to shut him up was food, it would solve a lot of their problems. 

“Steve?” 

He jumped slightly and looked up, “Yes?” 

“I was just wondering what you are going to say to my mom?” 

Steve shook his head after a moment, “I don’t think I’m going to respond.” 

Nancy frowned, “Is it because I said I was mad? That was a joke Steve don’t wor-”

Steve cut her off, “No I just don’t have much to say, and in a couple of days we will be back home anyways.” 

Tommy perked up when Steve spoke, “YES dude I can’t wait to be back home. I’m going to mess around SO much, it’ll be great. You guys totally have to come over a ton!” 

Nancy launched into a speech about underage magic use and Steve zoned out while she spoke. He was glad to have homework over the summer, it would be good for him to stay distracted during the break. It would probably keep his parents off his back, his dad at least. He couldn’t be in his way too much if he spent all his time in his room reading books, that was the hope at least. 

  
  


Before Steve knew it, he was in the packed Great Hall for the end of the year feast, and it was their last night at Hogwarts. For a few months that is. 

“Cheers to all for getting us through another year.” Dumbledore cheered. 

Everyone fell silent as he continued, “Now I see the house cup needs to be awarded. Ravenclaw is in fourth place with three hundred and eleven points, Hufflepuff in third with three hundred and twenty four, Gryffindor in second with three hundred and seventy two-” 

The whole table groaned, and Steve joined with them. They had worked hard through the year to get a lead on Slytherin, they thought they had it this year. 

“-And first is Slytherin with three hundred and seventy six points!”

The Slytherin table erupted in cheers. Snape looked happy, despite the fact he wasn’t smiling. 

Dumbledore said some closing words and they began the feast. Despite Slytherin having won the house cup again, they all seemed to have a fun time, even after the feast was over. The common room stayed alive with partying Gryffindors until well into the night. 

They woke early in the morning to pack all their stuff, and talk about their exam results. 

Nancy had of course gotten excelling marks, and surprisingly so did Steve, they had both come top of their year. 

“See I told you, I knew you’d do well!” Nancy yelled and hugged him. Everyone celebrated their results while they packed up all their items and headed off to the train. Steve was impressed he managed to fit everything into his trunk without asking Nancy to help him. 

It was too soon that they were all piled into the train cars and watching as the castle grew smaller and smaller. 

“So what are you going to do when you get home?” Nancy asked while she looked at the hills that passed by. 

“Ask my parents if I can get a broom.” 

She laughed, “Oh of course I forgot about that.” 

Steve smiled, “What about you?” 

Nancy looked thoughtful, “Hug my parents.” 

Steve ignored the pain that ran through his chest, “That sounds nice Nancy.” 

She blushed, “It’s stupid I know.” 

Steve reached over and touched her hand, “No Nance that is really sweet.” 

She smiled and looked away, “After that I’m going to take a bubble bath. I miss my bathtub.” 

Steve laughed and Nancy leaned her head onto his shoulder. They stayed like that until the train pulled into the station. 

Nancy pulled Steve into  _ another _ hug as they stood on the platform. Her parents were behind them, and there were students and parents all around them. Everyone was saying their last goodbyes, and Nancy had hugged Steve at least four times since they had gotten off the train. 

“Write to me, and come over, and tell me what broom you get, and make sure to write to me whe-” 

Steve laughed and cut her off, “I promise I will write to you, and I will come over, okay?” 

Nancy’s mom coughed behind them, “I’m sure we will see you soon Steven, come on Nancy. Steve hasn’t even seen his parents yet.” 

Nancy frowned but let go of him, “Where are they?” 

Steve scratched the back of his neck and looked down, “Probably at the car or something.” 

“They didn’t come to greet you?” Nancy asked softly. 

Steve shook his head, “I didn’t expect them too.” 

Mrs. Wheeler stepped forward and pulled Steve into a light hug, “Well you tell them hello for us, and I hope you come visit soon.” 

Steve smiled and headed through the wall and out of Platform 9 ¾. He looked around to spot his parents and saw Billy with an angry looking older man. He had his hand firmly around Billy’s arm and was yanking him around. Steve didn’t mean to stare, but it was hard not to. He stepped forward but stopped when Billy looked over at him. He had a panicked look in his eyes and he furiously shook his head and mouthed “Go”. Steve felt doubtful but turned and went off to his parents, a heavy feeling in his chest. The warmth he had felt from Mrs. Wheeler's hug was gone and replaced with a cold fear that took over his whole body. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts by his dad, “Come on, you’re already late.” 

Steve sighed and got into the car. His parents didn’t say anything the whole way home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took me longer to get out, I just started work again and haven't had much down time. But there you have it, the first year at Hogwarts has gone by! After this I think it'll be a bit about their summers, maybe a chapter from Billy's POV, and then they will come back to Hogwarts for their second year.


End file.
